Accession Boost to Turkish Property Getting Closer?

The European Parliament is continuing to discuss Turkey’s accession and has welcomed constitutional amendments which were made in 2010, but feels that more still needs to be done to ensure Turkey becomes a true democracy.

The key points that need addressing are freedom of the press, ensuring that women aren’t forced into marriages and that they are protected from honour killings, and also ensuring that religious minorities have legal protection so that they can enjoy the basic rights offered to other citizens such as being able to own a car and a property, and being able to worship openly.

There is also the continuing problem with Greek Cypriots as Turkey is still required to open its airports and harbours to them. The MEPs also asked that Turkey withdraw its forces from Cyprus and that it stops new settlements of Turkish citizens on the island.

The EU withdrew an amendment which allowed for the possibility of establishing a "privileged partnership" with Turkey instead of full membership as they regard Turkey’s bid for membership as being an open ended process.

While Turkey may still need to resolve problems with its nearest neighbours it is continuing to get on well with the rest of the world. It already has many visa free travel arrangements in place with other countries, becoming a favourite tourist destination with many, and the latest country to attract its attention is New Zealand.

It already has good political relations with the country and is now seeking to boost economic relations. New Zealand citizens already enjoy visa free travel to Turkey, and Turkey is now calling for this courtesy to be extended to their own citizens.

Turkey property would undoubtedly be boosted by EU accession, as we have seen with many countries before, not least because it would mean hostilities with Cyprus had been resolved.